Meta Platforms has agreed to pay up to $16.68 billion to settle claims brought by 29 US states accusing the company of designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to children, misleading consumers about platform safety and improperly collecting personal data from minors.
The agreement, reached as a federal trial was underway in Oakland, California, also requires Meta to introduce nationwide changes aimed at protecting teenage users.
The measures include a default two-hour daily limit across Facebook and Instagram, nighttime restrictions, school-hour notification controls and stronger parental oversight. The settlement still requires approval by a federal judge.
The lawsuit was led by a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general, with California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey among the states taking a leading role.
The states alleged that Meta deliberately developed features designed to keep young people engaged for longer periods while failing to adequately address the risks those products posed to children and teenagers.
The case also alleged that Meta violated federal children’s privacy protections by collecting information from users it knew or should have known were under 13 without obtaining the required parental consent.
The allegations formed part of a wider legal campaign against major social media companies over their impact on young people’s mental health and safety.
Under the settlement, teenagers will face a default two-hour daily usage limit across Facebook and Instagram. The limit can only be disabled with parental permission, while time spent on both platforms will count toward the combined allowance.
Meta will also introduce a default midnight-to-6am block during which teenagers will be unable to access their feeds, Stories, Explore or Reels.
Notifications will be muted by default between 8am and 3pm under a school-mode feature, although direct messages and certain safety or account-security alerts will still be delivered.
The company has further agreed to provide regular reminders encouraging teenagers to take breaks from the platforms.
According to Meta, prompts will appear after every 15 minutes of continuous use and when total daily usage reaches 60 and 90 minutes. The majority of the agreed measures are to remain in place for 10 years.
California’s attorney general’s office said Meta would also strengthen its efforts to identify and remove users under 13 from Facebook and Instagram.
Also Read: Meta faces legal challenge over children addiction
The company has long maintained that its platforms are intended for users aged 13 and older, although the states argued that Meta’s systems did not adequately prevent younger children from accessing the services.
The allegations came under intense scrutiny during the trial. Former Meta engineering director Arturo Béjar testified that the company had adopted what he described as a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to children under 13 using its platforms. He also criticized safety tools that required young users to activate them manually.
Instagram chief executive Adam Mosseri also testified during the proceedings, defending Meta’s handling of internal data on its youth-safety measures.
Prosecutors questioned him over the limited uptake of Instagram’s “Take a Break” feature, which was reportedly used by only 1.8% of teenagers.
Meta denied wrongdoing and did not admit liability as part of the settlement. The company has maintained that it has invested heavily in protecting young users and has introduced numerous parental and teen-safety tools in recent years.
The settlement follows a series of significant legal setbacks for Meta over the safety of its platforms. The broader litigation comes amid growing concern in the United States over the relationship between social media use and adolescent well-being.
Meta and other technology companies, including TikTok, YouTube and Snap, continue to face thousands of lawsuits alleging that their platforms contributed to a youth mental-health crisis.
The companies have generally disputed the allegations and argued that social media is only one of many factors affecting young people’s well-being.
For Meta, the latest settlement removes the immediate risk of a potentially much larger judgement in the federal case. Before the agreement, the company had estimated that an adverse outcome could expose it to as much as $1.4 trillion in penalties, while the states had been seeking a figure closer to $200 billion.
The agreement also comes as regulators, lawmakers and courts increasingly focus on how social media platforms are designed and how their business models affect children.
By requiring restrictions on screen time, nighttime access, notifications and age verification, the settlement could establish a significant precedent for how major social media platforms are expected to protect younger users.
Meta’s shares initially moved higher following news of the agreement before giving back some of their gains as investors assessed the financial and operational implications.
The settlement nevertheless provides the company with greater certainty over one of its most consequential legal battles involving child safety.
The agreement now awaits court approval. If approved, Meta will avoid a prolonged trial over the states’ allegations while committing to years of additional restrictions and oversight designed to reduce children’s exposure to potentially harmful features on Facebook and Instagram.
ALJAZEERA
